New Castle

Craig County is one of the smallest counties in Virginia (2020 Census population 4,892; 2021 estimate 4,914) and one of the least densely populated, occupying approximately 330 square miles in the Allegheny Mountains of southwestern Virginia along the West Virginia border. More than a third of the county's land area (over 112,000 acres) is federally owned within the Jefferson National Forest, and the only incorporated municipality is the Town of New Castle, the county seat. Craig County's zoning is governed by Chapter 58 of the Craig County Code (Zoning Ordinance of the County of Craig, Virginia, adopted March 5, 2009 and codified at Craig County Code Chapter 58), administered by the Craig County Building and Zoning Office under the authority of the Craig County Board of Supervisors. Virginia is a Dillon Rule state and the General Assembly has not enacted any statewide ADU preemption; Craig County's authority to regulate or prohibit second dwellings derives solely from the general zoning enabling statute at Va. Code § 15.2-2280 and the ordinance-content provisions of § 15.2-2286. The Chapter 58 zoning ordinance defines an 'accessory use or building' as a use or building customarily incidental and subordinate to the principal use of the main building or lot but located upon the same lot, and defines a 'guesthouse' as 'dwelling or lodging units for temporary nonpaying guests in an accessory building. No such quarters shall be occupied by the same guests, exclusive of family members, for a period of more than three months in any 12-month period, and no such quarters shall be rented, leased, or otherwise made available for compensation of any kind.' That guesthouse definition is the closest Craig County's zoning code comes to an explicit accessory-dwelling category and on its face prohibits the rental/income use that most California-style ADU programs are designed to enable. A second dwelling intended for separate housekeeping or rental on a Craig County parcel is therefore typically pursued through (a) family/kinship-dwelling treatment where the second dwelling is occupied by a family member of the primary-dwelling occupant, (b) a discretionary Special Use Permit (SUP) approved by the Board of Supervisors following Planning Commission recommendation under Va. Code §§ 15.2-2285 / 15.2-2286, or (c) minor subdivision under Chapter 54 of the County Code to create a separate buildable lot. Craig County does not operate a standalone ministerial ADU ordinance. The County's 2023 Comprehensive Plan (adopted October 5, 2023) expanded its scope relative to the prior 1979 plan to include a more detailed look at housing, economic development, recreation, and human services, recognizing the county's declining housing stock (2,610 units in 2022 vs. 2,955 in 2015) and population decline (down 3.8 percent between 2019 and 2021).

• Craig County Code, Chapter 58 — Zoning (Zoning Ordinance of the County of Craig, Virginia, adopted March 5, 2009)
• Craig County Code, Chapter 54 — Subdivisions
• Craig County Board of Supervisors — adopting body for zoning ordinance amendments and Special Use Permits
• Craig County Planning Commission
• Craig County Comprehensive Plan (adopted October 5, 2023)

State-floor overlay: Virginia has not enacted any statewide ADU preemption as of the General Assembly's 2026 regular session adjournment; § 15.2-2280 delegates zoning authority to counties and the General Assembly's ADU-preemption bills introduced in 2022-2025 have not advanced past committee. Craig County retains full Dillon Rule discretion to require Special Use Permit review for second dwellings.

Craig County's county-administered overlay jurisdiction is limited and reflects the county's small size and overwhelmingly rural-mountain character. The two principal county-level overlay categories are (1) the FEMA NFIP floodplain overlay, administered through Chapter 58 of the County Code and through the County's NFIP-participating Floodplain Damage Prevention provisions, and (2) the substantial federally-owned Jefferson National Forest interface, which while not a county-issued overlay in a zoning sense functionally limits where development can occur because more than a third of the county's land area is federal forest. Craig County does not maintain a coastal overlay (the county is inland and well west of the Tidewater region), does not maintain a designated historic-district overlay at the county level (the Town of New Castle has historic resources but local-district designation, where present, is handled separately), and does not appear to maintain a stand-alone WUI fire-zone overlay at the county zoning level. The Virginia Department of Forestry administers WUI-related programs statewide and the county Fire and Rescue services coordinate with the U.S. Forest Service for the Jefferson National Forest interface.

• flood-zone
• other — The substantial federal-forest footprint is the single largest constraint on where ADU-style construction can take place in Craig County. Parcels available for new construction are concentrated in the valley floors around the Town of New Castle, along Craig Creek, and along the State Route 311 corridor.
• other

The Craig County Building and Zoning Office is the single county-level authority for building permits, zoning permits, and Special Use Permit intake throughout Craig County. The county has only one incorporated municipality — the Town of New Castle — so the overwhelming majority of Craig County parcels are unincorporated and fall directly under county jurisdiction. (For the small share of parcels inside Town of New Castle limits, an additional town-level zoning review by Town Clerk / Zoning Administrator Nina Davis applies; building permits for in-town projects are still issued by the county building official under the Virginia Uniform Statewide Building Code.) For an ADU-style project on an unincorporated Craig County parcel, the typical sequence is: (a) zoning determination from the county Zoning Administrator confirming whether the proposed second dwelling can be approved administratively as a family/kinship dwelling, requires a Special Use Permit, or is not permitted; (b) if an SUP is required, application to the Planning Commission (recommendation) and Board of Supervisors (decision) with public hearings advertised under Va. Code § 15.2-2204; (c) building permit application to the county building official under the Virginia Uniform Statewide Building Code (USBC), submitted either by email to permits@craigcountyva.gov or through the CloudPermit online portal selected by the county; (d) inspections during construction (erosion control, footing, foundation, framing, final); (e) certificate of occupancy. Because Craig County is overwhelmingly rural and unsewered, almost all parcels require private well and on-site septic approval from the Virginia Department of Health (the Roanoke City / Alleghany Health District serves Craig County) before a dwelling building permit can issue.